Time Enough
by SineTimore
Summary: A post 6x17 - In the Belly of the Beast - one shot. Beckett is home safe with Castle and is most grateful for time she came so close to losing.


**Disclaimer:** As always, thanks to those who own these beautiful creatures. None of those people is me.

_One day you will hear the sound of time rustling as it slips through your fingers like sand._

_Sergei Lukyanenko_

* * *

_**Time Enough**_

Kate fought to expel the frozen image of the senator from her mind the second she stood, her hand secured in the warmth of Castle's, their bedroom just steps away, safe harbor from the day's storm. The physical and emotional chill that'd taken up residence in her bones hours earlier still lingered deep, despite the gallant efforts of her partner who longed for nothing more than to lift the weight of the last 24 hours from her shoulders and to banish it forever.

She clung to the soft pile of the blanket Castle had wrapped around her earlier, as he guided them across the loft, her slippered feet in marked shuffle, her body heavy with fatigue.

"Castle, wait, I should take care of this mess first," she said, taking notice of their plates from dinner left abandoned on the kitchen counter. "Your mom-"

He tugged gently at her hand. "Kate, it doesn't matter. That can all wait until tomorrow. Besides, my mother feels more at home in a messy kitchen than you may realize," he teased, in pure Castle form. "Come on."

The light in the bedroom was dim, the glow of one lamp within the sole source of illumination. He moved behind her, slid the blanket from her shoulders, let it fall to the ground and remain. His hands traveled the line of her body down to the bones of her hips as he pressed his lips against the loose waves of her hair, his mouth lingering there in the scent of her.

Kate's eyelids fell closed at the sensation, at his touch, at the nearness of him. She let it wash over her, the present moment that the past hours had nearly robbed her of. Castle was her home, everything she fought to get back to, everything her heart and mind needed to lead her out of that darkness.

"Would you hold me?" she whispered.

He spoke no reply, his body directing hers slowly to their bed, the comforter and linens already drawn in wait. He climbed between the sheets first, reached his hand out for hers and pulled her in tight against him, her form settling into his like a puzzle piece. "I don't know what I'd do if I ever lost you, Kate," he murmured, his breath warm against her ear. "You are all I've ever wanted."

Her fingers burrowed into the spaces between his and the muscles of her legs tightened around the bend of his knees – anything to feel the whole of him closer.

"I was so scared," her voice quivered, the sound muffled as it passed through the aggregation of emotions trapped in her throat. "I was so scared that I'd never be able to tell you all the things I need you to know."

"Kate, please," he protested, "you don't have to say anything – not now. The only thing that matters is that you're here with me, tonight, safe."

Kate's body shifted away from his as she rolled onto her other side to face him. Her position between him and the light emitting from the lamp on the near nightstand cast a shadow across his face, but in spite of that, she could still feel his eyes on her. She traced her finger along the slant of his cheek and across the smooth of his lips, his kiss to her fingertip a pause in its migration. The room was tranquil around them, save for the words swirling about her brain – words from pages of their book that she'd never before shared with him.

Time was all she'd wanted from last night - an hour, five minutes, one minute; time enough to make certain that he _knew_.

"Have I ever told you when I knew that I loved you?" Kate asked faintly, weariness peering around the corner of each word. "Have I ever told you that, Castle?"

"Are you about to burst my fantasy bubble about it being the first moment you ever saw me?" he replied with feigned disappointment.

"Don't," she scolded, "I'm trying to be-"

She paused and fell silent.

"I just want to share this with you. I don't want time to take this from me. Any of this. I want you to know and to understand, in case…"

"Hey," he said, his forehead pressed lightly against hers on her pillow, "I'm sorry. Tell me, Kate. You can tell me anything. Tell me everything."

She brought her hand to her cheek, the tear that'd fallen leaving a meddlesome tickle in its wake. She brushed it aside and lowered her hand to his chest, the heart she loved with all of her own beating there, strong and steady and sure.

"I let you walk away once, a long time ago. God, I was so scared then." She clenched the cotton of his t-shirt in her fingers. "And when you came back after that summer, the moment I saw you, after all that time without you - I never knew I could feel anything like that. That's when I knew I loved you and that my life would never be the same."

She lifted her head slowly from the pillow and leaned into him, her lips hovering above his, the light now in angles about his face.

"You've changed my life forever, Castle" she told him. "I loved you then, but I had no idea what this could be. Thank you for showing me every single day. And I will never take one minute of our time for granted. I promise you that. _Know_ that."

"I know, Kate. I do," he answered assuredly.

Her mouth opened against his and he pulled her to him, his hands clutching at the hair falling around him. _I love you_, she breathed, each time their lips parted.

_I love you._

**XXX**

They lay nestled together in bed, neither willing to relinquish their hold on the other. Kate left the table lamp on, no attention paid to the early morning hour displayed by the glow of the clock, and she watched Castle as he slept tranquilly beside her. Her body begged for the same, but she fought it with everything she had left in her.

Time was all she wanted from this night – an hour more, five minutes more, one. As long as she was with him and he knew she was there.


End file.
